


Detective Macavity in: The Case of the Jellicle Cult

by thoroughlyme



Category: Cats (2019), Cats - Andrew Lloyd Webber
Genre: Alternate Universe - Cats, Gen, Macavity is a detective, Macavity is the good guy, POV First Person, The Jellicles are a cult
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-23
Updated: 2019-07-28
Packaged: 2020-07-12 08:14:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 6,251
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19942996
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thoroughlyme/pseuds/thoroughlyme
Summary: In an alternate universe of the 2019 film adaptation of the musical "Cats", Macavity (as played by Idris Elba) is a detective investigating the activities of the Jellicle Cult - led by the mysterious Old Deuteronomy. Every year, the Jellicle Cult holds a Jellicle Ball where they ritually sacrifice a member of the cult - promising them rebirth in the 'Heaviside Layer'. After discovering that the love of his life, Grizabella, has been sacrificed in the most recent Jellicle Ball, Detective Macavity embarks on a journey to finally put an end to the Jellicle Cult once and for all.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> **(NOTE: This work takes place after the ending of the musical "Cats"; its relationship to "Cats" is more akin to the relationship shared between "Wicked" and "The Wizard of Oz" than that of a true AU, but for all intents and purposes, it's still an AU.)**

I

The rain fell in buckets as I stood on the balcony of the police station. It had been a long day – the worst day of my life. The hat that sat on my head had begun to feel heavy. Heavy with rainwater and heavy with my regrets of the past year. My name is Macavity. Detective Macavity. I’ve fought to maintain law and order in this town for the past several decades and I’ve done a damn good job of it, too. But every case doesn’t always end happily.

The wind began to blow harder; I placed my paw on my hat, holding it in place. Thoughts of her flashed through my head. Grizabella - my love, my life. Grizabella was beautiful. She had been beautiful since the day I first laid eyes on her as a kitten. We were close as we grew up. Nearly inseparable. But life, as it always does, split us apart. I wanted to be a detective while she wanted to be a glamor cat. We fell out of touch until the night she joined them. The night it all began to go wrong. And now? She’s dead. And it’s all my fault. If only I had done more to help her. Or to stop them. Maybe… No. I told her to get out of there while she had a chance. They already hated her for being involved with me. And now... her death is on my shoulders. Her blood is on my paws.

My ears and my nose twitched as the rain continued its assault. I pulled my tail further into my long trenchcoat. Wet fur is almost as bad as bloody fur. Off in the distance, I could see the light emitting from J-Tower, the tallest building in the city. That cursed building. The building where they hid. The Jellicles. That horrific cult of cats led by the dastardly Old Deuteronomy. This cult that I had been tracking for the majority of my career. They were to blame for my misfortunes.

I was so close to putting an end to it. I had captured Old Deuteronomy, a cat who had evaded justice for far too long. Rumor had it that Deuteronomy had the police chief in their pocket. But I don’t report to the police chief. I report to justice. I hoped that Deuteronomy’s arrest would put an end to all of this, but no. Those cats had been nice and brainwashed. What I saw as a legal arrest, they saw as a criminal kidnapping. And just as quickly as it had begun, my plan fell apart. I got in a fight with their flamboyant spokescat, Munkustrap. It took all of my wits to get out of there with my life. In doing so, I had to leave Deuteronomy behind. Big mistake.

Lightning illuminated the sky. The rain fell in heavier pellets. It had been only an hour since I’d heard the news. The news that my Grizabella had gone missing. I knew the Jellicles were responsible. I let Old Deuteronomy go and they killed Grizabella as an act of revenge. It was my fault she was dead and it was my duty to avenge her death.

I could still hear the sounds of their joyous party as it floated through the air. Their cheers mixed with the sound of thunder and it created an eerie effect. I looked around, examining this city as it sat against the darkness of the night. The city needed a protector and it was up to me to be that protector.

I looked at my watch. It was time to end this. I crawled down the side of the building and headed toward the station's interrogation room where a suspect was waiting to be interviewed. There was work still to do and revenge to be had. The night, hopefully, would not be a total wash.


	2. Chapter 2

II

In the interrogation room sat a shy, young cat. Victoria, the white-furred ballerina. She was the newest Jellicle recruit. In all the madness of my failed arrest of Deuteronomy, I was able to quickly and quietly apprehend her and transport her to the station. She remained silent for the entire journey. It wasn’t the kind of silence you hear when a perp demands a lawyer, but the kind of silence you get from someone who literally won’t talk. She was known throughout the Jellicle Cult for her utter silence. How cat-like of her.

I entered the interrogation room, closing the door firmly behind me. Her eyes darted over to me. Those slit-like irises bore into my soul. But she wore a face of total disinterest. Perhaps, even, resentment. As quickly as she'd looked at me, she turned her head away, studying her reflection in the one-way window.

I sat in a chair opposite her and pulled my notepad out of my pocket. Miraculously, it was only a little damp. I found a pen buried in one of my pockets, uncapped it, and scribbled on the pad.

“Victoria.” Her eyes darted back to mine. She looked as uninterested as ever. “I have a few questions I’m hoping you can answer for me.”

No response.

“How long have you been involved with the Jellicles?” Nothing. “Were you aware of the nature of the Jellicle Ball?” More silence. Her eyes darted away once again. “You understand I have enough evidence to lock you away for the rest of your nine lives because of your involvement in the recent disappearance of Grizabella?” Her tail twitched, but she, otherwise, paid me no mind.

It was time for another tactic. I slammed my fists on the table. “Victoria,” I yelled, “look at me _right now_!” Slowly, she looked me dead in the eye and licked her paw. It was a long, drawn-out lick. The kind of lick that told you she wasn't remotely interested in what you were saying.

“I have half a mind to throw you in the slammer and leave you there to rot but I can tell there’s good inside of you. You’re young. You’re new to this, new to _them_. You can still get out of all of this. You can have a chance to make a life from yourself away from their madness.”

Her ears twitched. It was a subtle one, but I noticed it nonetheless. I had her. “These Jellicles, they don’t care about you. They don’t care about anyone. They only care about power and control. That’s it.”

She stopped licking herself and stood up. She climbed onto the table and curled into a ball. “They’ll kill me,” she whispered. “They’ll kill me, but before they do, they’ll hurt me. They’ll hurt my family. They’ll hurt everyone I know.”

“We can keep you safe here.”

“No, you can’t.”

“I can keep you safe.”

She looked up at me, again, sadness in her eyes. She rose to her knees, placing a paw on my shoulder. “No, detective. You can’t. You have no idea what you’re up against.”

I placed my paw on top of hers. “Then tell me.”

She quickly yanked her paw away, curling back into herself. “I can’t. I just… I can’t.”

I leaned forward. “Please. Just give me a place to start. Someone to talk to.”

She thought for a moment. It was a long moment. I allowed myself a moment of hope. Then I heard a noise in the distance; a door slamming. Victoria’s ears twitched. She jumped from the table, rushing to the corner of the room.

“Victoria, it’s okay, I promise.”

She shook her head.

“Please. Just give me a name.”

The door slammed open. The face of my boss, the Police Chief, burst through. “Macavity. My office. Now.” He slammed the door behind him, exiting as quickly as he’d entered.

“See?” she said. “You can’t do anything.”

“I don’t listen to him. Give me a name. No one will know it was you.”

“Talk to the Rum Tum Tugger,” she said. “You can find him at the diner. He eats there every night.” She withdrew into herself, once again, curling into as tight a ball as she could, wrapping her tail around her body.

“Thank you,” I said. “I’ll be back.”

I pocketed my notepad and my pen and exited the room. Mission accomplished. Now, to evade the boss.


	3. Chapter 3

III

I stepped into the Police Chief’s office and quietly closed the door. The Chief sat behind his desk, intently reading a newspaper. He didn’t seem to notice I’d entered.

“What in Bast’s name do you think you’re doing, Macavity?” He flicked the newspaper away from his eyes and stared into mine.

I slunk my way further into his office, sinking into the first chair I could find. “I saw an opportunity and I’m taking it.”

“How many times do I have to tell you,” he began, “to leave the Jellicles alone?”

“And let them continue their murders?”

“Don’t be so dramatic. You don’t know they’ve murdered a soul.”

“And you don’t know they haven’t.”

The Chief rose. He was a big cat, tall and wide. His golden fur reflected the fluorescent light directly into my face. He held his tail tall and proud and it wiggled as he paced behind his desk. “In this society,” he said, “it’s innocent until proven guilty.”

I’d heard this lecture before. He delivered it every time I had a new piece of evidence. “At some point, coincidences stop being coincidences when they all point to the same culprit.”

“Your coincidences all point in the same direction because you insist they must.” He walked around his desk, stopping in front of it and sitting on its edge. It was a power move; he towers over me even when I’m standing, but when I’m sitting… It was no secret who was in charge.

“Sir,” I began, “on the same night every year, we get a report of another missing cat. Each time, that missing cat’s last known whereabouts was the J-Tower – the well-known headquarters of the Jellicles.”

The Chief waved his paw dismissively. “A coincidence!”

“Sir!” I insisted. “If this were any other case, you’d find that reason enough for a full investigation of the premises.”

“What are you insinuating?” 

“Nothing, sir. Just that you’re going uncharacteristically easy on them.

The Chief sighed. He removed his hat, placed it on the front of his desk, and walked back around to his chair. “Have you ever dealt with cases of a religious nature, Macavity?”

“No, sir.”

“No, I didn’t think so.” He sat down, tucking his tail to the side. “Cases of that nature are complicated. It’s a fine line between coming across as a follower of justice and coming across as discriminating toward a particular religious practice.”

“I don’t care about the optics –”

“ _I do_.” There was an air of finality in his voice. “I’m not about to let this town get dragged into a never-ending debate about religious freedom because you have an axe to grind with a local religion.”

“It’s not religious freedom if people are being killed!”

“ _You have no proof!_ ” The Chief roared. Well, it was more like a loud meow. But it had the same effect: I was chilled to the bone. All my fur stood on end.

I reached into my coat and pulled out a rolled-up newspaper. “You saw the news, right?” I thrusted the paper into his paws. “Grizabella has gone missing! She was last seen entering J-Tower. She was part of their crew!”

“This isn’t evidence, Macavity,” the Chief sighed.

“What more evidence do you need?!” I spat back.

“A confession, perhaps.”

“I have a member of the Jellicles in the interrogation room right now!”

“I know. You have to let her go.”

“I can’t! She provided me with a lead.”

“I don’t care.”

“She needs our protection –”

“From what?” I stayed silent. He already knew my answer. “You have to release her.”

“I won’t.” I was adamant.

“That’s an order, Macavity.” He picked up his paper again and began to read it.

“With all due respect, I won’t be following that order.”

“Then I suggest,” he replied through closed teeth, “that you bring me some _real_ evidence. Otherwise, your crusade is religious discrimination. Got it?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Good. Now get out of my office before I change my mind.”

I knew a lucky break when I saw one and I bolted out of his office quickly. It was time to follow up on the lead Victoria had given me.

As I made my way out of the building, I made sure to stop by the front desk and inform the officers-on-duty, Mungojerrie and Griddlebone, that they were to move Victoria to a more secure holding cell and keep a constant watch on her. She was counting on me and I wasn’t about to let her down. After all, I owed her for my only lead.


	4. Chapter 4

IV

Victoria had given me a lead. It wasn’t an amazing lead, but it was a lead, nonetheless, and I was going to follow it. Straight to the Rum Tum Tugger and whatever nonsense he had up his sleeve. Or fur, as he never wore anything that had sleeves.

I made my way to the all-night diner. It was a run-down place; most cats wouldn’t be caught dead inside. But the Rum Tum Tugger wasn’t ‘most cats.’ He was mischievous – the very definition of a troublemaker. I didn’t like him. We’d had run-ins in the past and every time, he’d lead me down a wild chase that ended in nothing. Figures he’d end up with the Jellicles – they’re a perfect match.

I entered the diner, the door slamming behind me. The lights inside were dim. A low layer of smoke filled the air. I didn’t know there were still establishments in the city where a cat could smoke. The place was empty, save for two cats huddled in a corner booth, sharing a glass of milk.

I walked up to the bar, grabbed a stool, and ordered a shot of catnip tea. Normally, I wouldn’t drink on the job. But this wasn’t a normal job. And abnormal jobs call for abnormal behavior.

As the barkeep handed me my drink, I heard the door open and close. I turned my head toward the door and saw him enter. The Rum Tum Tugger.

The Rum Tum Tugger is a curious cat. In all my years of knowing him, I could never pin down just where his allegiances laid. He seemed to side with the Jellicles and yet he often helped me with my investigations. Which is exactly what I hoped would happen tonight.

As he walked through the door, the Rum Tum Tugger immediately caught my eye. “Macavity!” He exclaimed.

“Rum Tum,” I replied.

“Please, it’s Tugger.” He always presented a different version of his name as his preferred greeting. I’m not sure if he genuinely couldn’t decide or if it was a power move.

“Tugger, I need your help –”

“Tut,” he held a single claw in the air to signal my silence. “Allow me to have a drink first, detective.”

And so, the games began. Every interaction with the Rum Tum Tugger went something like this: he’d arrive, you’d try to get him to sit down and answer your questions but he’d decide there was something else he needed to do first; this would go on for some time before he finally gave you the time of day.

So, I sat there. I watched him slowly nurse a good-sized glass of catnip tea – he handles his drink better than I do as I was still nursing my shot of the same drink. He chatted with the bartender and he chatted with the other patrons until he had finished his drink.

Then, slowly, he turned to me. “What do you want, Macavity?”

“You know what I want,” I answered.

“Say it, anyway.”

“The Jellicle Ball was tonight, was it not?

“I wouldn’t know.”

“I know you were there, Tugger.”

“It’s Rum Tum.”

“Fine. I saw you go in.”

“Maybe I did, maybe I didn’t.”

“It doesn’t really matter,” I said. “I just want to know who decided to have Grizabella killed.”

“Oh, dear, sweet Griz… What a beautiful cat, she was.”

I hissed a low, soft, guttural hiss.

“Whass-a-matter, Macavity? Did I hit a sore spot?” I was silent. “Oh, that’s right, you _loved her_ , didn’t you? Poor, poor Macavity. Guess you weren’t at the scene of that crime, were you?”

My claws instinctually extended. It took all of my willpower not to sink them into Rum Tum’s neck.

“I suggest you calm down before I decide this conversation is over.”

“Tell me who ordered her death. I know you know.”

“Oh, I do know But, what’s in it for me?”

“You can leave here alive, for a start.”

The Rum Tum Tugger cackled. “I could leave here, alive, any time I want. You’ll have to do better than that.”

“Please. She didn’t deserve to be killed. Just. Answer my question.” I have never enjoyed being so vulnerable, but, in that moment, it seemed as if that would be the only way of getting through to him.

“Your sadness appeals to my sense of justice. I’ll tell you what you want to know,” Rum Tum began, “but only if you do something for me.”

I sighed. “And what’s that?”

He smirked at me, his tongue slowly licking his lips. “Give me a kiss, Mystery Cat. One, single kiss in exchange for the information you seek.” His pupils narrowed as he looked at me, his tail twitching slightly with anticipation.

“Fine,” I said.

The Rum Tum Tugger pounced. He landed in front of my feet, then he slowly made his way onto my lap, straddling my legs, his tail wrapping around the back of my chair. He leaned in, his nose touching mine, our whiskers bumping against each other. And he kissed me. It was a soft kiss, but a passionate one. His paws rubbed up and down my back and he scooted his body closer to mine. I allowed my paws to rest on the small of his back.

Eventually, he broke the kiss and smiled at me. “Now, that wasn’t so bad, was it?

I simply glared at him. This was a business transaction; nothing more, nothing less. “The information?”

“Yes, yes, fine,” he replied. “Party pooper.” He leaned in close, his lips next to my ear as he whispered, “You’re looking for Munkustrap. He is the one who makes the decisions. He is the one who ordered her death.”

“Munkustrap?”

“Yeah, ya know, tall, black and white, flamboyant –”

“I know who Munkustrap is. Why would he want her dead, though?”

“Beats me. A few months ago, as Griz tried to join our group, he walked in and told us to ignore her completely. Then, right after we got Old Deutz back from you earlier tonight, he forced Deutz to make her the Chosen One.”

“But why?”

“To mess with you, I’d guess.” The Rum Tum Tugger was beginning to lose interest. He was examining his claws, now. I heard the door open behind me, but I didn’t think to turn around.

“Why would hurting Grizabella be a way of messing with me?”

“Oh, that,” Rum Tum began, “that might be down to the fact that someone told him the two of you had been seen together.”

I rose to my feet, angrily. “Who told him that?!”

The Rum Tum Tugger slowly and purposefully rose to his feet. “Oh, that’s a secret, my dear detective.”

Suddenly, a loud hissing noise filled the room, closely followed by thick smoke. I began to cough.

Rum Tum Tugger leaned in close to my ear. “I’ll let you in on the secret, though.” I felt my knees getting weak as my cough got worse. “I told him.”

My claws extended and I swung an arm at Rum Tum. He deftly caught my arm and slugged me in the stomach. I sank to my knees, tears welling in my eyes. In the corner of my vision, I saw another cat – a black and white one with a bowtie around his neck.

“You’ve met the magical Mr. Mistoffelees, right Macavity?”

Mistoffelees looked down at my face. He smiled and pulled a handkerchief from out of his hat. In the flash of an eye, he was knelt behind me, tying it around my mouth.

The Rum Tum Tugger turned and began to leave the diner. As he reached the door, he turned back and looked at me. “Oh! Well, I never! Was there ever a cat so clever as Magical Mr. Mistoffelees?” he asked as he cackled.

I looked back to my catnapper, who was in front of me once again, my eyes filled with desperation. I tried to move my arms, but I couldn’t. He knelt at my knees and looked deep into my eyes.

Then… I blacked out.


	5. Chapter 5

V

When I awoke, I found myself tied to a human-sized chair positioned in the center of a dark room. Only a narrow beam of moonlight shone through a window in the ceiling. I looked around, but I couldn’t make out much of the room’s detail. However, I had a nagging feeling I’d been here before.

"Macavity, Macavity," rang a sing-song voice. I looked around frantically but couldn’t find its source. My eyes were having trouble adjusting to the low light. "’There's no one like Macavity.’ Isn't that what they say?"

“I wouldn’t know what they say.” I craned my neck as far as I could, trying my best to find this voice. I knew the voice – but I couldn’t quite pinpoint it.

“Shame. They say some pretty interesting things about you” It was then that I finally saw him. Munkustrap. He was sitting on a throne – Deuteronomy’s, I assumed. His hind legs were crossed, and he drummed his claws on the armrests of the chair.

“Munkustrap.”

“Hello, Macavity. How nice of you to stop by.” He leaned forward, his eyes glinting in the moonlight. “Or, rather, how nice of Mistoffelees to bring you to me.”

“Where is that magical cat?” I yelled. “When I get my paws on him, I’m gonna –”

“Who knows where Mistoffelees goes when he’s not needed? Who cares?” Munkustrap jumped down from his perch. He rose to his full height; he was tall, taller than me. But he was a skinny, scrawny thing.

“I care.”

“Oh, do you? The famous Macavity actually cares about someone?”

“I don’t care about _him_.”

“I know exactly who you care about. _Cared_ about.” He smiled. It was horrifying.

I struggled against my binds. It was no use. Whoever had tied them was an expert binder.

“I wouldn’t bother with those. Among other things, Mistoffelees is the best binder we have.”

Figures. “What do you want, Munk?”

“I just want to talk. It’s been so long since we’ve talked.”

“You could have just asked me to come see you.”

“Would you have actually shown up? Or would you have just arrested me, arrested all of us?” He clapped his paws and the lights roared to life. I looked around in horror. I had been sitting in the main room of J-Tower. I was in the heart of the Jellicle Cult and, as if that weren’t bad enough, surrounding us were countless cats – all of the Jellicles. I tried and failed to hide my look of surprise. Munkustrap leaned forward and whispered, “you’d never have been able to take down all of us. You saw how well that worked earlier.”

“I only failed because _you_ cheated.”

“Whatever makes you feel better.” He smiled his horrific smile, again. He was clearly at home here. He felt powerful.

“What is all of this about? Why are they all here?”

“They’re here to witness something truly special.” He turned away and looked around his audience.

“And what’s that?”

Munkustrap turned to face me, staring deep into my eyes. "Haven't you ever wondered about the Heaviside Layer, Macavity?"

"It's nonsense. It's just lies spread by Deuteronomy."

"Deuteronomy? That old fraud? No, this isn’t from them. The Heaviside Layer is very real, as you'll soon learn."

"You've made your sacrifice for this year!"

"What makes you think we only do it once a year? Is it the song? Those silly songs we all sing… You of all people should know they're full of lies." He laughed. It was a horrible, ear-piercing laugh. "'Macavity's a master criminal who can defy the law?' As if. You don't have a criminal bone in your body, what with your precious passion for justice."

He walked behind me, his tail wrapping around my neck, squeezing it firmly. “No, you’re not such a mystery cat, are you? You’re a very predictable cat.” He licked me. A long, slow lick up the length of my face. His tongue passed over my whiskers, overwhelming my brain with sensation. It was unpleasant.

I tried to ignore this. “I thought all of you Jellicles swallowed whatever Deuteronomy said without a second’s thought. Deuteronomy is your leader –”

“Ha! That old cat couldn’t lead a flea, let alone this entire operation.” Munkustrap released his tail from my neck and leaped in front of me. “They started it all, sure. But their vision was low. Their scope was too small. They just wanted to gather some like-minded cats together and use them to do some good. Until I joined, of course. _I_ had other plans.”

“It’s been you.”

Munkustrap smiled. “Yes.”

“It’s been you this whole time!” As this realization dawned on me, I felt my anger rise. It had never been Deuteronomy. I’d been chasing the wrong cat all these years.

“Yes. And it was so easy to fool you, Macavity.”

“Why did you do all of this?”

“Why did I do all of this?” He mockingly replied. “ _Why_? Because I wanted to.”

“You’ve killed a lot of cats!”

“A lot of cats deserve to die.”

“Did Grizabella deserve to die?” I spat back.

“Grizabella,” he said, barely above a whisper, “she was an unfortunate case. A necessary step, though.”

“Necessary?” I was bordering on tears. “What was so necessary that you needed to kill her?”

“Hurting you.” He turned his back to me and walked up towards the throne.

I slammed myself against the chair, creating a loud racket. “There are other ways of hurting me.”

He turned and sat on his throne. “None that would have hurt you like this.”

“But why? Because I’ve been trying to shut this cult down for years?”

“No, that’s not it. Well, that was part of it. But Deuteronomy had your boss in their pocket, so you were never much of a threat. Just a… mild nuisance.”

“Then _why_?”

“You really have no idea, do you?” He looked at me, studying my face. “That’s the problem, Macavity. You have _never_ noticed me.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Do you remember school? You and Grizabella were the 'it' couple. And then there was me. I adored both of you and neither of you ever gave me the time of day.”

“We ran in different circles,” I replied, “does that really make me so cruel?”

“You still don’t get it.”

“Then explain it to me.”

“I _adored_ the two of you,” he said. His eyes were full of desperation. “I was in love with you both.”

“All you had to do was say something,” I said.

“Would you have even cared?”

“Of course.”

“Would you have felt the same way?”

“I don’t know,” I answered, honestly. “It’s hard to say when you’ve got me tied up because of something that happened fifty years ago.”

Munkustrap sighed. “Wrong answer, Macavity.”

“But –”

He raised his paw to silence me. “I suspect you want to hear how this all played out, right?”

I nodded.

“Don’t think everything I’ve done with the Jellicles is all about you, Macavity. You’re not the center of my world these days. I did most of what I did because it was fun. Because I enjoyed the power.” He looked around the room, studying the faces of the other cats. “Do you know what it’s like to wield this much power, Macavity? To have an entire army ready to act on your command?”

“Not exactly.”

“Then you’ll never understand the high I get from the Jellicle Ball. I took what was a nice evening of storytelling created by a nice old Cat into a ritual where the entire cult vies for a place in the Heaviside Layer.”

“What _is_ the Heaviside Layer?”

“You’re gonna find out, Macavity. Don’t let me ruin the surprise.”

“It’s real?”

“Very.”

“How do you know?”

“That’d be revealing one secret too many,” he said. “As I said, you were nothing but a nuisance to me. I’d moved on from all of that. Until the day Grizabella arrived. She walked through these doors looking for a place to belong – just like I had all those years ago. I was going to give her a chance; maybe she was different now and things could be different. But the Rum Tum Tugger had followed her to the diner one night where she’d met up with you and I knew… I _knew_ things would be exactly the same. I _knew_ she was working with you –”

“But she wasn’t! I begged her to get out of this cult before it was too late!”

“Don’t you think the time for lies is over?”

“It’s the truth.”

“Who says your truth is the same as mine? The Tugger reported what he’d seen, and I’d ordered everyone to ostracize her. I hoped that if she felt she didn’t belong here, she’d leave before she could do any damage. She didn’t.”

“No,” I said, “but she hated my guts. She thought I was the reason you all hated her. And so, she cut me out of her life and kept trying to join your cult.”

“What a pity,” he said. And I believed him. “She’d already accomplished her role in my plans without dying. That would have been valuable information. Perhaps, then, she wouldn't have needed to die.”

“You killed her over misinformation?”

“You almost ruined everything tonight. It was never my plan to kill her. I orchestrated her invitation to tonight’s ball, but she was never supposed to be the one to die. I was using her as bait, hoping if you knew she was here, you’d try to rescue her.”

“You got that part right, at least,” I said.

“You came too early, though. I wasn’t ready. I wanted you here at a moment when I could capture you. And then, _and then_ , to top it all off, you catnapped Deuteronomy and threw my whole plan into chaos. Sure, I didn’t need them. But the others would never go along with the ritual without Deuteronomy presiding over it. So, I had to get them back from you and, in the process, you escaped.”

“Why not try something else, then?” I asked. “Why not use Victoria to lure me here?”

“I _did_! That’s _exactly_ what I did.”

“I should have guessed.”

“You really should have, Macavity. You’re a terrible detective. Before I staged our rescue of Deuteronomy, I told Victoria exactly what to tell you when she got captured. And I told Rum Tum exactly when to arrive at the diner in order to capture you. And I made sure Mistoffelees would be there at exactly the right moment. This _was_ my other plan.”

“And how does killing Grizabella fit into that?”

“You left me with no choice! The lower cats were getting impatient and I had no other backup. They needed their bloodlust quenched and she wandered back into the ceremony and I… I killed her without thinking! I needed the ritual over so I could focus on you!” He yelled. “ _You’re_ the reason for her death, Macavity. Your constant interference with my plans…”

“I’m not the one who pulled the trigger.”

“You might as well have been. It was supposed to be you. It was _always_ supposed to be you. And now it can be.”

“But –”

“The time for questions is over, Macavity.” He reached to the side of his throne and pulled a lever. From the ceiling, a giant tire descended. Attached to it was a chain connecting it to whatever was above the ceiling of the room.

“Move him to the platform,” Munkustrap commanded.

Out of nowhere, Mistoffelees appeared and broke the leg of the chair I was tied to. Before I could resist him, he zapped me with something, draining me of my strength. He was joined by a few other cats as he dragged me to the platform. Mistoffelees quickly threw me onto the platform and attached my bonds to it.

As Mistoffelees and the other cats backed away, Munkustrap looked down at me from his throne. With a quick flick of his wrist, the tire-lift was turned on and I started to rise in the air. The lift emitted a deafening noise as it slowly pulled the tire into the air. It was so loud, I figured I’d die from the noise-trauma before I’d die from whatever Munkustrap had planned.

As the tire raised higher and higher into the air, Munkustrap looked at me and smiled his biggest smile yet. “You wanted to know what the Heaviside Layer was? Well, here it is! Welcome to your new life, Macavity!” He yelled over the roar of the tire-lift. His final words reached my ears just as I began to blackout. “Welcome to the Heaviside Layer.”


	6. Chapter 6

Epilogue

When I finally came to, I was in a world I didn’t recognize. It looked similar to where I’d been, but it was different. It was brighter. The colors were more pronounced. It hurt my eyes to look, so I kept them closed. Eventually, I fell asleep.

Time passed; I don’t know how much. Eventually, I awoke. The light hurt my eyes less and I decided to explore my surroundings. I stood on my hind-legs and took a step. Immediately, I crashed to the floor, slamming my face in the soft carpet. I tried again and received the same results. I looked down at my paws. Instead of the more flexible fingers on my front legs that I was used to, I now had a set of identical paws on every leg.

A thought occurred to me: perhaps I should try walking on four legs as if I were a child? And so I did. It was awkward at first. My balance wasn’t quite right, but, eventually, I got the hang of it. I explored the room. It was a human’s room; everything was too big for me. My legs, however, remained as strong as they had always been and I managed to get myself on top of a piece of furniture and in front of a mirror.

I looked into the mirror and didn’t recognize what I saw. I was still a cat, yes, but I didn’t look like me. My hat and my clothes were gone; I was naked. I was much smaller than I remembered being and my entire body looked different. It looked as if there were no possibility I could walk normally. Perhaps this world was vastly different to than the one I was used to. Heaven was weird.

I looked closer at my reflection. The scar across my left eye was still there, but now… it looked less like a scar and more like a discolored patch of my fur. I liked it. It looked dignified. My fur retained much of its original pattern and I was pleased.

Suddenly, I heard a loud noise. A door opened. Through the door stepped a human woman. She was tall, though, every human would be tall when stood next to me. I didn’t recognize her at first, but as she stepped further into the room and her face entered the sunlight, I immediately know who I was looking at.

It was her. I'd recognize her anywhere. Those eyes were the eyes I'd seen in my dreams since I was a kitten. Still a bit unstable with my four-pawed walking, I made my way over to her and rubbed my head against her leg. Grizabella looked down at me shocked at first.

“And where did you come from, little guy?” she asked in a, frankly, patronizing voice. She bent down to look at me. As she stared into my eyes, I could see recognition dawning in hers.

“Macavity? Is that you?” she asked.

I tried to reply to her, but the only noise that escaped my lips was a soft “meow.”

“Come here, my love,” she said. She opened her arms as if to embrace me and I prepared to jump into them.

Then, a noise unlike any I'd ever heard emerged from her mouth, followed by a mixture of snot and spit. It continued. Over and over. She looked at me, now, not with love but with disgust.

“I’m - I’m sorry,” she said as she shoved me away and ran out of the room.

My legs gave out and I laid on the floor. It was then that it hit me: I remember legends of humans who got sick in the very presence of a cat. Grizabella must now be one of those humans. As I realized this meant we could never be together again, I felt my heart shatter and then harden. This wasn’t heaven at all; it was a Bad Place.


End file.
